Finance group pulls plug on £3bn float
Swiss Re has pulled the plug on the £3bn flotation of ReAssure, its Shropshire headquartered life insurance business, blaming weak investor demand.
ReAssure Group confirmed its plans to float last month and trading in the shares had been due to start this week.
However, Swiss Re announced today it has aborted plans for the listing in response to “heightened caution and weaker underlying demand” in the UK primary market from large institutional investors.
Swiss Re’s group chief financial officer John Dacey said: “While we firmly believe that the long-term interests of ReAssure are best served by a more diversified shareholder base, there has been no pressing need for Swiss Re to divest shares at a price that we consider to be unrepresentative of ReAssure’s value and future prospects.
“We retain our objective to reduce Swiss Re’s ownership in order to de-consolidate ReAssure. In the meantime, Swiss Re and MS&AD remain fully committed and supportive of ReAssure and its management team, and will participate in future acquisitions in line with their respective shareholdings.”
Telford-based ReAssure buys and administers closed books of business from other companies and now has 4.3m policies and looks after investments of more than £68.7bn for its customers.
It is the sixth largest life insurance group in the UK, employing 2,500 people across its four sites in Telford, Norwich, Hitchin and London.
ReAssure has completed four acquisitions since 2012 and experienced growth of approximately 2.6m policies and £44.9bn of assets.
It bought Legal & General’s closed mature savings business last year, which added 1.0m policies, and other significant deals included the 2016 takeover of Guardian Group and the purchase of policies and assets from HSBC Life in 2014.
